Want to prevent heart disease? A healthy lifestyle is the only reliable approach

“Lifestyle changes are more powerful than any drug in protecting from heart disease and they come without side effects” was a summary statement made by cardiologist Dr. Aseem Maholtra during a presentation to the European Parliament in Brussels in April 2018.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. The majority of these deaths can be linked to coronary artery disease which can be prevented – and largely managed – through healthy lifestyle choices.

Heart health and technological advances

The snowballing advances in technology are having an ever-increasing impact on our lives.  We cannot argue that these advances have had many benefits, including increasing our average life span. There are however also many downsides.

Technology has enabled the fast paced, stressful lives we lead. This rushed life partly contributes to our increased consumption of highly processed convenience foods. These foods are readily available because technology has made the development, large-scale production, and distribution of these products possible.  Not to mention the daily in-our-face advertising.

We have become mostly sedentary due to widespread use of motorised transport, digital technology and home entertainment systems, so we have to deliberately schedule time in our lives for exercise.

The above are but a few examples.

Can’t medical treatment ensure a healthy heart?

Medical knowledge has expanded more in the past 50 years than in all the preceding centuries and effective treatments for previously incurable conditions are becoming available almost on a monthly basis.

The public has come to expect that their doctor with have a pill or a treatment for every ailment. This, combined with widespread medical insurance, is probably the main reason why people are taking less responsibility for their own health.

Added to that is the increasing emphasis on profits within the world of medicine – by the drug companies, the medical insurers, and health care facilities.  Unfortunately, a large proportion of medical research is now funded by companies that will benefit financially from the findings. Published research is becoming less and less reliable. The profit motive is also influencing the choice of treatments given to patients.

Furthermore, it has become impossible for the ordinary general practitioner to keep up to date with the rapidly growing medical knowledge and they rely to a large extent on the information provided by the drug companies.  The increased emphasis on using only treatments validated by objective scientific enquiry has also diluted the average medical practitioner’s courage to trust their own opinions and observations.

The result of the above is that many of today’s standard treatments are of questionable value in preventing disability and reducing mortality. And unfortunately the majority of medical interventions do carry some measure of risk.

A case in point is the widespread prescription of cholesterol lowering statin drugs for nearly everyone over 50 – even when the person is not at high risk of a heart attack. These drugs do have side effects, which are not widely reported on. Many clinical trials show that for people without a heart disease, reducing cholesterol might lower the chance of dying by 0.01%. That means that out of 1,000 people, lowering the cholesterol might help 1 person. The choice to take or not to take a cholesterol lowering drug should be up to the individual after all the information of pro and con is provided.

A healthy heart is your responsibility

Adopting a healthy lifestyle is the answer to preventing and managing heart disease.

Eat a healthy diet consisting of real food.  Reduce the amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates you consume.  Exercise at least 30 minutes a day – any movement will do. Quit smoking.  Manage stress by adding some relaxation to your day, whether it’s sport, socialisation, a hobby or mindfulness practices.

Take even further responsibility for your own health and wellbeing by questioning and keeping yourself informed. Should you want to find out more on the topics we touched on in this article we highly recommend that you listen to the address “Big food and big pharma killing for profit” with Dr Aseem Malhotra.